Mr. Henry Chase, aged about 28 years, son of the late Henry Chase, of Hyannis, was seen in this neighborhood, two weeks ago last Sabbath, inquiring his way to the house of Mary Dunn, residing about two miles from this village, in the woods—since which time, nothing has been seen or heard of him. He seemed to be unwell, and somewhat deranged. He was an intemperate person, and had some spirit with him, in a tin pail, which was emptied upon the ground by those who directed him to Mary Dunn’s. The pail, we learn, has since been found at her house;--various conjectures have been made as to the cause of his absence, but we forbear to mention any, hoping they will be found incorrect. Last Friday, a large number of citizens from Hyannis (to which place he was in the habit of frequently going,) went out and searched the woods, lying on the road supposed to have been taken by Chase, and also the premises of Mary Dunn, but nothing was found that could lead to his discovery.

1862

Capt. Nehemiah Wixon, Jr., of South Dennis, had a narrow escape from being shot recently, by a boy shooting at a target; the shot passed within a foot of his head, and lodged in the walls of a house opposite. The boys down that way must be more careful, or by-and-by “somebody will get hurt.”

1892

The town has cleared up the approaches to the dumping grounds on the road between Hyannis and Barnstable. This public dump has been a disgrace to the town for the past year and the honor of its maintenance belongs particularly to Hyannis. Let people using the dumping grounds for the disposition of rubbish see to it that this rubbish is properly deposited out of sight of passers-by, back from the main thoroughfare. All through last summer one of the pleasantest drives to and from our village was greatly disfigured by the carelessness with which rubbish was deposited at this dumping place.

1902

An alarm of fire was given at about 9 o’clock on Sunday evening which aroused a crowd of spectators to one of the most exciting event Hyannis has experienced in years. The alarm was caused by the igniting or bursting of an oil stove in a back room in the home of Mr. and Mrs. William Lovell, Jr., who occupied the south side of the dwelling house. The Fire Department responded promptly to the general alarm, and was early on the scene of trouble, and did heroic work. When the fire apparatus arrived the chemical was stationed on the south side of the burning dwelling but it was soon demonstrated that there was no hope of saving the house. The wind was light from the southwest and the burning embers filled the air. Along the wake of the flying sparks was the Patriot office, about fifty feet away, the Congregational church, the Cash block and a score of residences. The heat was intense and it was dangerous to try to pass between our office and the burning building. But a stream of chemical solution soon wet down the roofs and by approaching from the north side served the men some protection while they fought the firebrands that constantly ignited the opposite side of the roof.

1912

The Cape Cod Auto Co. has secured of Mr. Louis Arenovski the vacant lot on the Clark estate east of the Universalist church and will use it as a passageway to and from their garage. This will make the approaches to the garage much more safe than by the old way between Messrs. Guyer’s and Megathlin’s stores, which has been considerably narrowed and obscured by the additions being built onto the Megathlin building. A large addition is to be built to the garage on the west side, with a main entrance facing Main street.

1922

Alphonse Beaumont met with a serious accident in Osterville, Thursday, when he fell nearly 30 feet from a flagpole which he was painting, the ropes letting go. A hurried call was sent to the Cape Cod hospital and he was taken there in the ambulance. It is thought no bones are broken, but a severe shaking up is no light matter. We hope he will soon recover.

1932

People are going to see an unusual automobile parade Saturday morning when the different local dealers handling cars controlled by General Motors Inc., will cooperate in making the circuit of the Cape. The cavalcade comprising La Salle, Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet, Pontiac and Oldsmobile cars scheduled to leave Centre street in the vicinity of the Connolly garages about 10 o’clock and go the south side of the Cape to Provincetown and back by the north side to the canal when it will switch to the south side and wind up the parade at the starting point.

1942

Massachusetts is told today to watch her tongue! She talks too much! So say the public information division of the Massachusetts Committee on Public Safety after completing a listening survey of unguarded war talks in public place. Despite the posters, displayed conspicuously with their slogans: “A Slip of the Lip May Sink a Ship,” “Keep Mum, Chum,” “Look Who’s Listening,” and many others Bay Staters are still too confidential with strangers at the lunch counter, in the bar, on the bus and in the nightspots.

1952

A C-47 plane carrying 10 passengers and two crewmen, crashed yesterday with an F-94 Star Fire jet plane over the Camp Edwards firing range, killing 12 air force men. Ten of those killed were in the transport ship and two in the jet. The planes crashed in the clouds. The flaming, falling planes were seen by many persons on the Cape. Six forest fires were started, but were all out last night. The crash happened at 12:30 p.m. Centerville school children, out in their noon recess, witnessed the sight in the sky.

1962

Coach Dick Gleason, Barnstable’s diamond mentor, is faced this year with the problem of filling four posts left vacant by graduation, transfer and accidents, but he has a squad of 50 candidates, sprinkled with likely material, working out. It is too early to make predictions, but the squad is shaping up well and Gleason feels that the following have shown the most promise. Buckler, Syriala and Clark are the top three pitchers with Al Montagna and a transfer Phil Stevens, able to do back stop duty. At the initial sack, Ted Armstrong, and Danny Hostetter look the most promising. Top candidates for second post are Peter Dwyer and Dana Hinckley. Shortstop position will be taken care of by either Bucker or Syriala, depending on which is on the mound. At the hot corner Jimmy Murray, Jeff Scudder, Phil Souza and Dave Hammett all look good. Outfield posts will be filled by Jeff Crocker, Norman Hayes, Richard Grenon, Ralph Daniels and John Couette.

1972

Close on the heels of Barnstable High School’s great winter athletic triumphs, another team has come through with winning ways—the Speech team under faculty coach Richard Warren. Last Saturday from Amherst three BHS students brought home gold meals and 14 won silver medals for their impressive performances in the annual State Speech League Sweepstakes. Michael Bourbeau, Laurie Crosby and Richard Patterson won gold medals. Silver medals were won by Meg Mulhern, Vickie Beggs, Mary Bowmar, Janice Princi, Karen Duane, Paul Geick, Frank McHaffey, Rick Davis, Mike Delaney, Susanne Norman, Rusty Scudder, Stephen Gregory, Suzanne Gesin and Jennie Hatfield.

1982

Barnstable voters will have to choose one selectman before they can choose a second. That’s the message from selectmen about the special election to replace colleague Gloria W. Rudman, who resigned Monday morning. Mrs. Rudman, whose action took effect immediately, left after two years in the three-year, full-time post. She said, “I realized that I could not afford another year without settling many matters,” both personal business and family. Her husband died soon after she took office; of their three children the youngest is in high school and at least one attends college.

1992

George Tuttle’s garage/storage building with some 4,800 square feet of usable space will remain as it stands. The zoning board of appeals upheld the decision of the building commissioner with just one voting to overturn. Neighboring landowner Edward Kirk filed the appeal to demolish the new structure. Kirk appealed on the basis of an improperly issued building permit.

2002

The Barnstable Middle School at Marstons Mills OM/Destination Imagination team is on a major roll. The team took first place honors in the state competition last Saturday at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Now the scramble is on to get ready for the global competition in Knoxville, Tenn. There’s a lot to be done to get six team members, two coaches, costumes and a set to the University of Tennessee. The set, featuring a giant hand-painted origami Japanese fan, will be given special attention. It was created by the students and has been singled out for the Renaissance Award at both the regional and state competitions.